Biography

Jorge-David Mancillas (he/him/his) is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Sociology at UCLA. His academic and career endeavors stem from having grown up between San Diego, Los Angeles, and Harlem (NYC) and losing several close friends to community violence and to life prison sentences along the way. Since his undergraduate years, Jorge has been a part of the Underground Scholars Initiative, a UC-wide student organization for formerly incarcerated and system impacted students, advocating for this population through recruitment, retention, and academic support.